This is a related article about the fuel pinch, dated 02 Sept 2005 So people should have been expecting something to be done and done quickly.
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http://www.ajc.com/news/content/busines ... izgas.html
GASOLINE SUPPLIES
Pinches likely to continue
By MATT KEMPNER, STACY SHELTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/02/05
Metro Atlantans are getting a hint of another new normal, and it's a message many haven't heard with such emphasis since the oil crises of the 1970s: Conserve energy.
The area unsteadily regained its composure Thursday after a spate of panicked gas buying, long lines at pumps and overrun gas stations running dry.
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Exacerbated by Wednesday's buying spree, the metro area came within four days of running out of gasoline supplies, said U.S. Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Turmail. Hurricane Katrina had knocked out power to the two Gulf Coast pipelines that supply the Atlanta region's 7 million-gallon-a-day gasoline habit.
Power was partially restored Wednesday night and, by Thursday night, Alpharetta-based Colonial Pipeline Co. was nearing half capacity. The second, smaller pipeline was operating at 25 percent capacity.
Availablility of gas appears to be on the increase Friday in the metro Atlanta area, according to Tom Smith, director of the Georgia Association of Petroleum Retailers.
He estimates that one in every seven sellers in the metro region is completely without gasoline at their pumps. And perhaps one in five have run out of just a grade or two of fuel, he said.
A day ago --- on Thursday -- he had estimated that a quarter of all local gas retailers had no fuel to sell.
The message for drivers remained clear: Gas is still far from a certainty, even if the crucial pipelines approach full capacity by the middle of next week, as expected. About 90 percent of the Gulf's oil production, crippled by Katrina, still is out of commission, as is 11 percent of U.S. refinery capacity.
"This is not a one-day phenomenon," said Jay Hakes of Atlanta, a former head of the Federal Energy Information Administration who is writing a book called "Gas Lines: Nixon, Ford, Carter and America's First Energy Crises."
"We are dealing with something that is going to last for many months."
Hakes, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, echoed President Bush's call Thursday for Americans to conserve energy.
"If people do not conserve or cut back on their driving, we are likely to see very persistent lines" at gas stations, Hakes said.
Gov. Sonny Perdue has asked Georgians to telecommute and avoid unnecessary driving, as they approach one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. He encouraged thousands of state employees to work from home through next week.
No rationing plans
Heather Hedrick, a Perdue spokeswoman, said the state has no plans to ration gasoline to motorists. That's an option under Georgia law.
"Certain gas stations may do it on their own, but the state has no such plans," she said.
Richard Cobb, executive director of the Georgia Petroleum Council, worked in Gov. Jimmy Carter's administration when the state rationed fuel during the oil crunch of the early 1970s.
He said the current situation doesn't require such draconian measures. Back then, there were requirements to buy a minimum amount of fuel to discourage people from topping off their tanks. There were also odd-even sales, which banned drivers from buying gas every other day based on their license tag numbers.
Smith, the director of the Georgia Association of Petroleum Retailers, cautioned Georgians about their Labor Day weekend plans.
"If I were planning a trip this weekend, I might go to plan B," Smith said. "You would have enough fuel to get where you are going, but you might not have the product you need to get back."
Saraguay Petroleum Corp., which delivers fuel to retailers, was making some deliveries Thursday, said company President Tex Pitfield. "The public needs to back off and let us do our work. If they don't need gas, they need to get out of the way.
"But it's going to be a long process to refill the inventories," he said.
Price disparities
Oddly wide disparities in prices at the pump — as much as $1.50 per gallon — remained throughout the metro area Thursday.
Jim Tudor, president of the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores, said he believed most station owners were merely passing along the soaring costs they themselves were charged by suppliers.
Different stations paid sharply different prices for fuel this week, depending on contracts they had with suppliers. Some of those suppliers had significantly less inventory to tap.
Still, he said, there were a few instances of retailers who went beyond merely passing on higher costs.
"Some people made some bad short-term decisions," Tudor said.
By midday Thursday, the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs had taken about 350 complaints about price gouging at the pump, spokesman Bill Cloud said.
"We're taking them in, lining them up and gonna take the worst ones first and work our way down," he said.
The "worst" included complaints of a station in Columbus charging $7 a gallon and one on the Southside of Atlanta selling regular gas for $6.19 a gallon, Cloud said. But gas prices appeared to "have retreated significantly" after Perdue said Wednesday evening that price gougers would face fines of up to $5,000, and up to $15,000 if the victim is a senior citizen.
Cloud said motorists who suspect price gouging should keep and copy their receipts. They can fax information to the Office of Consumer Affairs at 404-651-9018, or call 404-651-8600 or 1-800-869-1123 (toll-free in Georgia, outside the metro area).
Cloud said it's difficult to say whether a retailer is gouging customers, since there is no price cap.
But those who are accused of gouging may be forced to justify their price increases, Cloud said.
— Staff writers Michael E. Kanell, Nancy Badertscher and Joey Ledford contributed to this article.
